Maximum Ride The Ultimate, The Only
by HumanAvianHybridsRock
Summary: Max rides again! This time with Fang and the WHOLE flock, just like it's supposed to be. No compromises, everyone is family like old times, like always. TEAM FANG ALL THE WAY!
1. Chapter 1: Bird Kids

Chapter 1: Bird Kids

Fluffy clouds complimented with pinks and violets coloring them; I am greeted to this symphony of colors at sunrise as I awaken. In a tree. Yes, it is true I fell asleep in a tree. I sigh as I stare up at the sky recalling how this all came to be. Oh yes, I left for a midnight flight last night solitarily; just me soaring in the sky with my powerful hawk-like wings carrying me. Then came a thunderstorm from the east, forcing me to me to ground for the night in a tree to seek shelter. Yup, this is the life of me, Max, Maximum Ride. A bird kid, mutant-freak, or human avian hybrid whatever you may call me. _Ugh_, I think, _should've chosen a softer branch_. My upper and lower back both seem to complain with aches which I ignore. Perching with precision and ease, I look down. I am suspended at least 7 feet; I am not able to jump down. With a few flits of my wings I touch down to the forest floor. Now is the search for breakfast, but I decide that my hunger is not fatal therefore it can wait. **Caw! Caw! ** A crow from above calls getting my attention for two seconds. These are rural woods I remember, there are critters that live here. I know to be watchful, for I have no clue what kind reside here either.

"Getting home. Hmmm." I mutter to myself. I come to a clearing of oaks to run and lift off. Airborne once again, I think it will be useful to get a view of my location from on high so I can find my way back. Peeking above all the towering trees I see that I truly am lost. _Oh crap_, I think, _I hope the flock isn't in a fit looking for me. _I turn to the north, more trees which are really helpful.

"MAX!" I hear my name called from above the layer of clouds as I hover.

"Iggy?!" I shout back in high hopes that it is my best blind friend in the whole wide world. Blind is right, fly he can, and he does it well I say. More about him later. Following my voice he swoops down to about 20 feet away.

"Max! I heard you call me! Where are you?!" I faintly pick up on his voice as he yells towards the other direction facing away from me.

"Turn around Iggy! It's me, behind you!" I practically scream.

Iggy zips to me, "Oh Max!"

"We've been looking for you all morning as soon as we saw you weren't in bed we _"

"I got lost, I apologize." I interrupt.

"It's cool, let's inform the others!" Iggy is already ahead of me by several yards, I turn to go to. With strong beats of my wings, I catch a breeze and manage ahead. We silently race as we near towards the others to join them again. I chuckle, and he grins broadly. Iggy and I are brothers and sisters to each other; although not related, we are family. Close as close can be. In fact that's what it is with our whole flock. We always to strive to keep the bond, but in the past that hasn't always worked. Splitting and reuniting of the flock has occurred on more than one basis, but after last time we all agreed to keep our unity strong. Advice to you from me is avoid conflict at all costs.

"Maxy!" I hear Nudges' cheerful, girly voice acknowledge me.

"Don't call me that!" I say winking, we reunite hugging. Surprising me from behind is Gazzy and his sister, Angel. They both smother me with kisses, hugs, and high-fives. Next there's Fang; plain old, black-haired Fang. In a Black Veil Brides t-shirt, and the usual sweet, mischievous smile.

"Hi," he pecks me on the cheek. Yes, I will say at first this relationship was awkward to the rest of the flock, but the mutual agreement we all made is that we wouldn't let romance put the safety of our family of bird kids, the 'flock' at risk.

"Maximum, you had us concerned. Don't go with without leaving a note or something, please." Fang's facial expression turns serious, but soft in a loving, caring matter. I glance again into his dark fudge brown eyes and sigh, my tangle of hair falling around, a mess on my shoulders.

He smiles and says, "Don't do it again without notifying us." With that notion, the subject is dropped.

"To Denny's!" Nudge points to the west, and the flock follows. I stop the beat of my wings, and drop to catch a breeze and sail on it far behind the others. Fang flies above me, he gets low enough to put his arms around my waist, and hold me. "Max, I love you to Mars and back." He gently let's go, and flies a few feet higher. I am reminded of his cute crush on me. The sunshine hits his black hair and wings making them shine. I smile astounded and float on the breeze for a moment more, then boost ahead. I am exuberant this morning, and I know nothing can bring down my mood.

"Denny's just ahead!" I hear Angel cry in her cute, little girl voice. We are on her tail as she veers left then nose dives. We all follow in formation and continue for forty seconds until we extend our wings like parachutes to catch us and glide and land on both feet.

Inside, we fill a booth and are given menus upon sitting down.

"I am Carrie, your waitress today!" A server sets or menus on the table, she's dressed as a server should.

"I'll take four pancakes and O.J.!" Gazzy beams.

"Chocolate milk and veggie omelet over here!" Nudge speaks.

"Crepe and milk for me!" I order.

"Pumpkin pancakes and apple juice," Angel grins.

"OOH! Macho man breakfast burrito! Bacon, ham, eggs, and all the works." Iggy nods contently.

"I'll take cereal and chocolate milk, oh plus an egg and apple house smoked bacon for a side." Fang murmurs quietly. He's pretty much to himself in public.

"Ok Great!" Carrie smiles and rushes off. I see Angel watch as she departs, and clearly she is reading her mind.

"What's she thinkin' Angel?" I whisper in her ear.

"What a bunch of stupid kids." Angel giggles, I chuckle light-heartedly hoping no suspicion would arise.

The meal was pretty good, but towards the end everyone still wanted more and so did I. I mean, that's normally a fifth of what we all eat, each. Why? Well, normally we all consume four thousand to seven thousand calories a day because our bodies require more energy for sustenance than humans. And, to order that much food at one restaurant could get us weird looks any day.

"Let's hit up a Jack in the Box," I offer, "spread out or meal to stay on low profile."

"No, let's order more here." Fang mutters.

"Do you recall what happened last time we did that in New York City? Do you remember how we were revealed because we had to book it?" I reminded him.

"Yes." He replies.

"Ok, kids we're going." Fang reaches for his steel wallet (chained to his pants to not fall out when flying) to pay.

"Bye!" Carrie waves clearly not caring, as long as she got paid. We all walked out glad to be out again and find a field to take off in and find another restaurant.

"There, a B.K.!" I spot one below us in another small town.

"DIVE!" I hear Gazzy leading us all into formation to land again, as we plummet I near Angel and smile with my eyes watering like crazy. Upon touchdown I kiss her on the cheek and embrace her, then walk towards the town.

"Nudge" I say kindly.

"Huh?" She looks over to me.

"You are peculiarly quiet today?" I mention, noticing she wasn't up to her normal babble.

"Oh! Um, well I've been thinking," she paused, "I really like a celebrity guy I saw in _Hollywood Hotties_ yesterday, and I know it's a relationship that could never be." She sighs.

"So you 're gonna let that stop you?" I ask.

"What's his name?" I inquire.

"Oh. Wendell." She smiles.

"How romantic," I respond trying to be nice (mentally I was laughing).

"Ha! That's a silly name," Gazzy retorts, both him and Iggy start cracking up. I give them both angry looks that say, "Hey be nice!"Nudge sighs ignoring them.

"Look, honey! I'll find a way for you to meet him and his pretty little face! I promise!" I smiled.

"Oh Max, if you can," she sighs heavily.

With that we went inside and all ate to our heart's content, I had two quarter pounders, an extra large soda, and a side of onion rings. Fang ate three double cheeseburgers, chicken tenders, and an extra large soda. Angel and Nudge shared five southern style chicken salads and two orders of large fries with iced mochas from Starbucks next store. Gazzy and Iggy dared each other to eat five quarter pounders and a side of chicken wings. Iggy won, by eating all of his food plus a BIG MAN soda (bigger than the extra large soda). Gazzy could only down two and a half quarter pounders.

"Ahh, those burgers were bomb." Iggy reclined in his spot. Nudge gave him a wide-eyed look.

"Wow," she said with sass and took a sip of her mocha, "I couldn't stomach that if I were forced to."

"I mean poor Gazzy over there can hardly keep it all down." Nudge nodded her head towards Gazzy sitting at a table away from ours. I wondered why he sat away from us.

"Gasmen, Come here, sit with us." I beckoned.

"No, Max, I feel like I am about to throw up my food." He groaned. I knew it was so smart to let an eight- year-old eat two and a half quarter pounders. _Gosh Max,_ I think, _great parenting._ I visibly saw him turn green, and knew that was code for "It's coming!" With that I shot up and snatched his hand and dashed outside just in time for it all to be spewed all over the grass.

"UUUUUUUUUUUGGG!" Gazzy groaned.

"I am so sorry," I comforted him as a little brother. I knew he had to get home immediately to recover.

"I am so sorry this happened, next time I won't let you go up on Iggy's dare." I said apologizing for my crappy parenting.

Gasman sighed, "At least it's green so it blends in with the grass." He laughs, and I chuckle. He's got a great sense of humor for an eight-year-old.

"I am going to get you home," I tell him.

"Max, let's beat it!" Fang commanded coming out of the restaurant with everyone.

"What? Why?!" I was alarmed.

"The manger just called the po po! Let's get!" Fang and the flock were off. I pick up Gazzy and join the others knowing we're gonna have to make a quick escape or we'd be caught. I take flight in a flutter with Gazzy in smug my grasp. The staff came chasing us out of the restaurant, but they only see us as tiny specs in the sky. We are far above clouds in the noon sun, and all fly the way home silently and swiftly. I

"UGH! Home at last Gazzy," he gets up out of my tight grasp and falls onto the sofa where I wrap him up in his fleece blanket with pillows for cushion. He lies still, and closes his eyes to sleep. I give him only water, and nothing else. I sigh watching him asleep, and get up to straighten myself up with a shower and my hygiene duties. The shower soothes my stress, and I settle down for the day with my laptop. Fang sits at my side, who knows what else the others were doing but as long as they were occupied we enjoyed each other's company sitting together with hot chocolate and enjoying cat videos on YouTube. A calm afternoon is just what I needed, and I was peaceful until 5 PM. Fang is preparing to fix supper (I set the table) because it is our turn to do it when we hear screams.

"AAAAAHH!" I hear Nudge screech.

"NOOO!" I hear Angel from her bedroom she shares with Nudge. I burst in their door to see Iggy cackling on the floor. Angel was covering her eyes and ears, Nudge had a horrified expression.

"What's the commotion?" I demand.

"Iggy showed us _Mama _on Netflix!" Angel sobs.

"IGGY!" I scold him.

"You know you're not allowed to watch rated R movies with them in the room!" I unplug the T.V. and tell everyone except Iggy to step out. When it's just him and I, all I do is cross my arms.

"So smart! You're gonna give Angel nightmares, you dimwit!" I say shaking my head. He stops laughing.

"I am sorry."

"Yup, sure." I say sarcastically. He looks ashamed, and I am glad. I leave him in his room while I consider a suitable punishment for him. Walking out, I see Nudge cradling Angel and Fang chilling in a chair near the couch.

"I need sleep." I rub my eyes.

"Dinner is done." Fang mumbles.

"Hmmph?" I hear Gasmen awaken.

"Dinner is ready," I repeat to him.

"YUM! Let's eat!" Gasman bounces up to the table, the girls follow, as I. If he were just human I wouldn't allow him to eat because you aren't supposed to eat to when sick. Because he's a human avian hybrid (98% human, 2% avian) though, our health rejuvenates quickly, thus I knew he was well enough to eat. We dine on tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches without Iggy. Afterward I bring Iggy food to sit him down to talk.

"Hey," I hand him food.

"You know what you did, and for that you are condemned to wash dishes for the next week, plus do whatever Angel says." He gives me a sour look, and sighs then smirks.

"That it?" He asks.

"Yes."

"Seems you've grown soft in your punishments." He speaks up.

"Don't push it, bub." I warn, and walk out prepared to sentence him to more consequences if irritated more by him. Suddenly I remember to turn back to Iggy.

"Your sentence starts now, go do dishes when you're done with dinner." I speak stoically. Finally with nothing else at all, I climb into bed and fall fast asleep into dreams of soaring in the moonlight. My favorite.


	2. Chapter 2: Six Flags Fun

Chapter 2: Six Flags Fun

"Ugh," I lean on the couch arm rest. The living room is mess, so today I know is a day to tidy and clean, a time to put these children to work. I embark on making breakfast; no one is awake except me. Alone I listen to Enya to soothe my soul, and flip pancakes and fry bacon. To myself, I think, _gosh it's nice not to have adults to boss you around like dictators._ You see, we live here alone, adult-free, just us (unless you think Fang or I are adequate adults, you're wrong). It all started when Jeb left us, and I am glad. He told me I had to save the world, but I finally quit with his save-the-world-crap and let the world save itself. Selfish I know, but humans don't really care anyway so why should I care? I am happy with my family isolated here. I hum along to the music and forget myself, and eventually come back to reality when I realize Gazzy is creeping up in attempt to frighten me. I turn; he's giggles knowing he couldn't ever scare me, Maximum Ride.

"Up so early?" I acknowledge his presence.

"Early? It's nine thirty." He yawns.

"Oh," I look at clock on my i pod.

"Is your room clean?" I ask all motherly.

"Ah yes," Gazzy gulps.

"Hmmm." I walk down the hall to Gasman's room.

"I don't think so, clean your room" I glare at clothes everywhere, a bed un-made, and a dirty carpet.

"You're such a pathetic liar, don't do it." I decide not to punish precious Gazzy. Come on he's eight.

He sighs, and slams the door behind him.

"Everyone's doing it buddy." I whisper through the door, he is just in a pouting period, it'd fade.

"What is it?" Angel comes out of her room with a grumpy expression.

"Just Gasman, he's in time out." I turn to hug her.

"What a grump Grinch he is." Angel embraces me with a hug and kiss.

"Want some pancakes, Angel?"I guide her into the kitchen.

"Yeah!" She says happily with a grin.

I pick up a plate, put pancakes on it and set it in the microwave to heat; next I heat the syrup as well. Angel sits patiently anticipating pancakes; I know this is her favorite. As soon as it's ready, I give her a the pancake. I set out on heating some for myself as well. I join her after I heat my breakfast.

"How did you sleep? Any bad dreams?" I asked worried about yesterday when she had watched _Mama_.

"I had one bad dream. It was about an evil, scary man running after me." Angel shivers and takes a bite of her breakfast. I wish I could be there to save her even in her dreams, poor girl. Although, in the past Angel hasn't been a complete angel, she's manipulative with her mind-reading.

"I tried to stop my dream, but I couldn't. It was hard to wake up from it; I am still freaked out by the big scary man." Angel explains more in her simple vocabulary.

"What did the man look like?" I had to know, I hoped it wasn't Erasers or one of the school's experiments-gone-wrong haunting her dreams.

"Well," she mustered it from memory, "he was strong, looked like a wolf, and wore a white lab coat and carried a huge needle that they use to give you shots."

"Oh honey," I hug her.

"Just try and forget it all," I whisper in Angel's ear. She nods, and then let's go of my hug to finish her pancakes.

"He's not real." I lie, because in reality we all know such terrors exist at the school.

"Today, I need you and Nudge to clean you girls' room." I inform Angel who slouches and frowns.

"Iggy can help you, and with everybody's help it will get done pretty fast, and after we might all go out for a treat." I encourage her. She smiles and runs to the sink with her hale eaten pancake (Did she not like it?) and then down the hall to her room to begin on the day's duties. _What a good girl_, I think cleaning her dish and tidying the kitchen. Subsequently I dress, put up my hair and began waking everyone to get the day really going. Nudge, Iggy, and Fang all aroused, fed (again everyone nibbled at their pancakes), and were directly assigned to clean their rooms. Later each of their rooms was inspected by me or Fang. Next Iggy was paired with the younger ones Gazzy and Angel, and I with Nudge and Fang to take on one half the house each. This included cleaning and organizing. At 1 PM, we were done with almost no whiners and hissy fits.

"Whoo! Cleaning really exerts energy!" Nudge exclaims flopping on the sofa followed by Angel and Gazzy. Iggy and Fang simply sit in chairs, silently.

"Lunch anyone?" I saunter to the kitchen and put wares, leftovers, and juice boxes on the counter for my hungry flock.

"FOOD!" Gazzy is first to the counter to seize three juice boxes, a banana, a whole container of mac n' cheese, the other hamburger from yesterday, plus utensils. The rest came after him, hoarding large amounts of food too.

"Now we have an empty fridge and no leftovers." Fang stares at the remnants of the gobbled down food on the table.

"Guess that means grocery shopping," I glance in the fridge seeing Fang is right.

"Well, we have a clean house at least." I mutter glad of at that rarity.

"That means we have to go into Slagle today, and everyone is coming." I reason. Oh did I forget to tell you where we live? Sorry, we live in south-east Texas near Lake Sam Rayburn sheltered away in the nearby hills. Yes, somehow we got lucky and found a ditched summer home in somewhat decent condition and now reside here hoping the owner never returns. We have been here a year and have had no issues. I hear hoots and hoorays, the kids love going into town whenever we can.

"Get your wind-breakers and walkie-talkies," I remind everybody as they clamber to prepare and go. We carry walkie-talkies in case we get split up and wind-breakers are to hide our massive wings so we look somewhat human when we go out in public.

"Fang, can you grab the ATM card?" I ask him in a hushed voice.

"Oh, yes," he runs to his room for his lock box to get the one thing that means provision and funds. Yes, we call it the ATM card of wonders; this is how we've been getting around since we first received it in New York City. It is linked to an account with unlimited funds, we don't know who makes deposits into the account, but every time we need money we use this card and it has always worked.

"Got it securely in my wallet," he shows me tucking it in his back pocket that zips.

"Great," everyone is out the door and up and away. I lock the door and shove the keys in my buttoned-up back pocket. With walkies in tight grasps, we're off.

I beat my wings hard today, for the wind is against us. I see Angel and Gazzy struggle to catch up, and Nudge is off to her normal word blabber. I zone them out and turn my head to Fang, flying faithfully next to me.

"Beautiful today isn't it?" I admire the clouds, soaring through one often. He smiles a reply, no words. Promptly we arrive in Slagle and land in our customary meadow near the town, this is where we land and take off at.

"I'll go buy what we need. Take the kids to have fun." I say as we go in the store to get money for me to buy food with at the ATM for food.

"Okay, that enough for groceries?" Fang inquires handing a big sum of money (it cost quite a bit to feed all of us). I nod.

"Guys_"

"And girls!" Nudge interrupts, I roll my eyes.

"Go with Fang. I will meet you in two to three hours after I go shopping." I wave goodbye and head to get groceries. They wave bye, and leave with Fang.

"Yay! Time to myself alone in the store." I grab a cart and go, picking up cereal, eggs, several gallons of milk, apples, cuties, bread, turkey-ham, granola bars, Twinkies, Twix, Hawaiian rolls, packaged salad, dressings, ketchup, ground chicken, canned soup, and whatever else would last us through the week (hopefully more, this was a big haul). Seeing it all took half an hour, I had time to fly it all home (thank goodness for my super-human strength) and was able to be back in time.

Breathing heavily, I landed in the far back, forgotten parking lot of the market to meet the others.

"Hey Max over here!" Fang hollered coming towards me. Behind him, I see Angel in a frilly, fuchsia dress with a huge bow and Nudge in new designer clothes. Iggy is wearing a VANS tee and had sick new Vans sneakers on to match. Gosh, Fang must have really treated them at the mall, but hey they all deserved it.

"Do like my new dress?" Angel twirls, her dress fanning out. How will she ever run for her life in that thing? Yes, sometimes we need to, but not so much lately.

"Yes it's cute." I compliment. Nudge swings her hips with attitude as she mimics a model, flaunting her new designer skinny jeans, high tops, and blouse.

"Nice!" I say. These two have always had better sense of style than I ever did. Iggy walks over casually.

"Y'all should make an American Apparel ad!" I joke.

"Ya," Fang chuckles, "Does everyone wanna go to Six Flags, its holiday in the park tonight?" Fang pops out spontaneously.

"WHAT?!" I exclaim.

"Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington?" Iggy looks in disbelief.

"It's three hundred miles away. I don't think so." I make up my mind in a snap.

"Why not?" Fang shrugs.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX !"Nudge sasses me.

"We can fly there in about two hours if we fly fast." Fang points out. I narrow my eyes.

"PLEASE!" Gazzy, Angel, Iggy, and Nudge all plead simultaneously. All make boo eyes, and beg.

"We don't even have t o pay to get in; we can just literally fly inside." Fang reminds me.

"I don't like theme parks, like do you remember when we went to Disney World and all the lines and crowds we encountered? You hate crowds, remember?" I make excuses.

"Who cares we can just cut in line!" Angel says.

"We don't cut in a line, that's not polite." I reprimand Angel.  
>"Oh you're such a dictator Max." Iggy complains.<p>

"Do recall what I once said to you? That this ain't a democracy, it's a Maxocracy." I cross my arms as I remind Iggy who's in charge.

"Let these kids have fun, besides tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I've read on the internet that around the last days of the year are the best days to go because of smaller crowds." Fang says.

I sigh, "What will we accomplish?"

"A fun experience!" Nudge blurts, "God dang it Max, let's just go." I imagine Fang and I holding hands as we are about to descend a hug drop on a roller coaster romantically, maybe it was good idea.

"Hmmm. Fine." I say giving it a chance. But if we run into anything we book it!

"We won't, chillax." Fang mutters.

"YAY!" Nudge jumps into the air extending her wings and flutters a few feet.

"Hey where's your windbreaker?" I ask trying to be a good guardian.

"In my backpack." Nudge point to it slumped on the grass.

"Alright." I give a fierce look, "first let's get home and get food for the flight there." I hear my stomach groan on cue.

"YAY!" comes from everyone as we line up to take off in formation, nothing said, just done (we all do it on occasion because it looks cool).

The flight home is a fun one. Everyone is in a jovial mood and makes jokes, laughter, and random dip dives as I say (these dives are spontaneous and trigger adrenaline highs).

"Ha, great one Gasman!" I compliment him on a fart I hear from seven yards away.

"That's a real stinker." Nudge giggles.

"Whoo! Yeah, Gazzy I can smell that from here that one was like a freakin' stink bomb." Iggy waves his hand in front of his nose jokingly.

Gazzy giggles, "Why thank you, that's my pride and joy in life!" He stops to reminisce in laughter, falls behind a couple beats then shoots right back.

"Home ahead!" Angel my little scout calls.

"DIVE!" I command, my flock follows loyally (I just love them). We stop flapping then land smoothly like pros, it's habitual, instinctual. Fang unlocks the door, and everyone races to the kitchen to grab the goodies first.

"Everyone get their backpacks, it's gonna be a long way there at full speed. Make sure to eat plenty of carbs before we leave in twenty minutes so you don't poop out half way there!" I advise anybody who can hear over the busy bustle in the kitchen.

"I call dibs on Twix!" Iggy reaching in the cabinet, gosh I wonder how he gets around being as blind as he is. Clever and cunning guy he is, I smile at the fond thought of him.

"Max! That's not fair, make him share." Gasman whines.

"Yeah!" Angel crosses her arms and her face conforms in her agreement with Gazzy with a pouty face.

"Iggy, sorry to burst your bubble, but those are for everyone." I give him an eye, even though I know he can't see it.

"Divide it up equally, that's all I got to say." I leave them to settle a small bicker, I don't EVER involve myself. I can't stand conflict or drama. Fang snatches the bag from Iggy and steals half of them.

"There, the rest are all yours." Fang smirks, I can't help but chuckle. He's such a good influence.

"Don't worry kids, there's Twinkies in there too." I inform them. At the mention of Twinkies all four (Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge) ravage the pantry in search of the Twinkies. Gosh they are so funny. I momentarily leave the room to ready my bag with my i pod, walkie, my own secret stash of junk food kept in my closet (shhh don't tell), water, hand sanitizer, and lotion (yes Maximum Ride a complete tomboy carries a little lotion, just to mask the stench of blood when I run into fights). The fights I speak of are fist fights with only our hands, fit, stealth moves, and quick wit, that and many other things are what it takes to defeat Erasers (awful, dreadful mutants wolf things who're basically were wolves) or any other revolting mutant-experiments the school can concoct to come after us. The "school" I mention is a vile, outlandish place out in Death Valley, isolated from civilization. This place is sadly where my flock and I all originate from. At least the super-human mutant part of us, we all know we aren't test tube babies. Every one of us knows that we were sold to this repulsive place at birth and were kept in cages to be experimented on, except me. The most suckish part about _my _parents is that Jeb is my dad, and he let them experiment on me, his own daughter. That's what hurts me most personally, and_ that_ is unforgivable in my eyes. Plus the torment of living in cages, being fed almost nothing and the treatment of animals really got to all six of us. That all led to us eventually breaking out. Ever sense, we have all decided to never return, the only exception, ever is if one of uses taken into captivity again by the school we will come to their rescue (that occurred once with Angel, but we all got her back).

"Let's head out!" I yell, glancing at my digital watch. Hoots, hollers, and mimicked bird cries are heard form in the hall. I join my rowdy flock as we lock up the house and soar to Six Flags.

"The breeze is pushing us along tonight, I can feel it." I tell Fang as I near him, the wind in my wake and feathers felt rejuvenating. The fly to the park was reduced to an hour and a half because of the breeze; we only took one two minute break to chow down on Twinkies.

"We're here kids!" I announce to my euphoric flock.

"YES!" Gazzy cackles. Nudge stands in awe with Angel; I know how much those three LOVE theme parks and roller coasters. They're fearless of any of the rides and got on any of them they please. Height wasn't even an issue sense we are all genetically-altered to be taller and stronger than average human kids in our age group.

"Can we all split up?" Iggy asks having a difficult time restraining himself from going.

"Yes, because you have your walkies," I grant permission.

"Let's go!" Angel and Nudge are already off.

"Hold up!" I shout.

"If anyone needs food, find me or Fang and we'll hook you up." I smile, "have a good time." Waving, I see them all scrabble of to get in lines all in pairs (Iggy and Gazzy, Nudge and Angel, and of course Fang and me).

"To Titan!" Gazzy directs Iggy, who runs along with him.

Fang looks me over and hugs me, I squeeze back, and tonight is our night. I needed this.

"Should we pick up funnel cakes and go on Oil Derrick? It's supposed to be a drop ride." Fang grins; he knew my favorite kind of rides.

"Sure," I kiss him and we hold hands and stroll there, together like we are meant to. I am no damsel, but I say he definitely knows the way to a girl's heart (junk food and charm).We board the ride, mouths full of funnel cake and hear familiar giggling behind us. I turn; in the car behind us sit Nudge and Angel. I sigh, and decide silent treatment was the best thing; I wasn't going to let their presence ruin a perfectly good night like this.

"Oh Max, hi." Nudge baits me, but I don't take it. Just as the staff come to check that we are strapped in tightly (liability I guessed) I requested if we could step off the ride. I was NOT going to ride with them, I needed a break. Fang and I both agreed to come back to Oil Derrick later and hoped the girls would get the clue not to follow us. The dude Okayed it so we got off and decided to go on Runaway Mountain, which we rode on nine times because of an adrenaline high and no lines. Our night proceeded with Fang making me laugh so much to the point of headaches which I ignored. It wasn't until we got to Texas Giant, five rides later (which included a couple delays because we stopped several times for turkey wings, soda, ice cream, and more water) when we all coincidently encountered the six of us riding all in a row. This almost seemed impossible, but it happened.

"That ride reminds me of Colasses at Six Flags Magic Mountain," Iggy comments.

"Yeah, it starts you out with a wicked drop and VOOSH, off you go!" Gazzy makes sound effects, (he actually can mimic almost any sounds).

Nudge and Angel are shaking, I am too, but hey it's so worth it.

"HA HA HA!" I hear a repulsive, cheesy evil laugh from nearby.

"NO!" I whip around to stare my nemesis, the embodiment of all evil right in the eyes.

"Ari!" Angel snaps, fearless even though she knows he could clobber her.

"Angel!" He smirks back. But before he could inflict the first blow, Angel stepped right up to him and gave him a hard, audible SLAP to the face. I ordered "Skedaddle!" to my flock. The younger ones followed orders; Nudge, Gazzy and Angel already spreading their wings to go. Iggy and Fang stayed for my back. Ari whistled and his band of brutes showed up to kick my bird butt. But you know I don't ever let that happen, I extend my wings with a WHOOSH and jump into a flying roundhouse kick to Ari's already red face. By this time a crowd has accumulated and is cheering for one of our defeats, so much for secrecy. It's not every day you see mutants street fighting. He's knocked to the ground by the force of my kick, and Fang knocks the air out Ari with a swift kick to the jugular to only leave him gasping for air; applies pressure to the pressure points and he's down. All the while Iggy is so infuriated he's punching any Erasers he can repeatedly in the chest and head. Out of the park we fly, away from all the commotion and a night that was intended for fun. I sigh, not so much anymore. The way home is silent and the mood is heavy. I hate you Ari (more on that next chapter).


	3. Chapter 3: Flock Fights

Chapter 3: Flock Fights

Turning the shower facet to the warmest setting I step in. My chilled skin is for a second stunned by the sudden temperature increase, but then stimulated into relaxation.

"Ooooh, what a load off," I mutter. I glance downward at the drain, all my stress plus all the perspiration of running around a theme park for several hours and a fight flowing in a mini whirl pool down it. Geese did this help one-hundred and ten percent. All the anger inside me is now gone. Everywhere there is steam, which temporarily clouds my vision as I grab the moisturizing shampoo and massage it all throughout my hair. Proceeding that I clutch the soap and apply all around, "and you know the rest of the story" as coined by Paul Harvey.

Upon finishing, I gently turn the nozzle off, and bury my face in my clean towel that smells of Tide. I eventually work my towel through my wet hair and continue on in the process of drying myself. All snug in my towel I sit on the ledge of the bath tub and listen to the drip drop from the showerhead.

"Max, come on I want to shower next! Hurry up!" Nudge whines.

"Yeah, me too, I wanna go after Nudge." Angel's tiny voice is muffled through the door.

"Alright," I chuckle with a refreshed state of mind, now I could actually think. In a rush, I dress to let the others in to shower.

"Yay!" Nudge budges through the door as I barely make my way out the doorway.

"Sheesh Nudge, can you wait 2 seconds?" I ask. WOOSH! SLAM! Nudge is already inside.

"No, I smell sweaty and icky," Nudge replies with slight sass from inside the bathroom. I giggle_; she's just so cute_ I think. Angel rolls her eyes. _Not if you share a room with her, _Angel responds using her telepathy. I ignore her snide thought, and kiss her atop her head and urge her to get right to bed after her shower. I step slowly down the hall, and poke my head in the living room to see Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy pooped out on the couch or on the ground. Iggy sleeps face down on the floor as if passed out, poor guy I wish he wasn't blind so he could see where he ended up. Gazzy wrapped in a fetal position taking up only one couch cushion, and silently sleeping beside him was Fang sitting down but with his arms crossed arms and head on the armrest. Wow Fang can even be stoic looking while asleep. I quickly took a picture of the whole scene, it is a rarity ever to catch people in such a comical position while sleeping, especially Iggy.

I quietly laughed; this was definitely a Kodak moment. I went back to my room leaving everything as is until daybreak, for now bed was beckoning.

Glare shines right into my eyes, I wake disturbed by the sunshine coming through my window. I immediately climb out of bed onto the floor, I land sprawled out. I sit up with my back straight, and begin to reach for my toes and stretch out my legs and back; of course I am careful not to hurt my wings. I loosen up my tense shoulders with shoulder rolls, and partially extend my wings to stretch them out. Feeling ten times better I arise smiling prepared mentally for the day just ahead. Tiptoeing to the kitchen, I grab the skillet and start to crack eggs to cook. Someone smacks my hand away. Iggy stands behind smirking and snatches the eggs from me and takes over. I gave him a nasty glare topped off with an angled frown.

"The pancakes we ate yesterday were undercooked and doughy, let me cook for everyone like I used too." Iggy insults me. I puff up my chest, and hold in all the obscenities I want to scream at him.

"How come none of you just politely say so?" I snarl.

"We were being nice," Iggy remarks flipping an egg.

"You can't heat up popcorn in the microwave without it burning." Fang trudges into the kitchen, already a foot behind me (I have no clue how he does it, seems as if he appears out of nowhere). I stand gawking at Fang. How could my boyfriend agree with such a mean comment?

"Don't go off on him, your cooking is crap. Everybody already knows it," Forthright Fang, predicts my next move and yawns as he opens the fridge searching for a Monster (an energy drink).

"You should have 'crappy cook' written on your fore head." Iggy says sarcastically. I silently curse under my breath.

"Max, remember I can hear you." Iggy now fries bacon, placing them on a plate; I hated his keen senses, (as you know if one sense goes out, all others become sharper). I walk out of the room sheepish and agitated; turning red all over. I sit softly on the sofa, forgetting that Gazzy was still sleeping.

"Max?" He awakens.

"Morning," I grumble.

"Oh," Gazzy senses my mood.

"Sorry," I turn even redder, "I am coming off to strong this morning." We're silent a moment.

"Gasman, do you recall those times I taught you to tell the truth?" I started.

"Well now is the time for your honesty. Is my cooking terrible?" I inquired hoping for a positive answer.

Gazzy trembles and gulps (was he really that afraid of me?), "Ah, yes."

I look down at my lap, now I knew it was set in stone. The inevitable truth was all too true.

"Thank you." I pat him on the head and walk to the kitchen.

"Gazzy even agrees too, huh?" Fang grins. I nod, still angered. Fang laughs boisterously, and wakes both the girls who come into the kitchen wondering what woke them. Fang entertains the two girls with the story of how I tried to cook as they sit on barstools O. on chocolate milk. I sulked on the sofa_. Ugh how dare he,_ I think.

"Oh Max, you take it too personally." Nudge sees me sitting, unhappily.

"Time to eat!" Iggy hollers as we sit down to scrambled eggs with a side of bacon, and toasted bagels.

"I hate you all." I force myself to the table.

"No you don't you just hate it when you're not right." Iggy mutters matter-of-factly.

"I can hear that!" I revile back.

"Well I wanted you to know it is ok to be wrong, Max." Iggy replies.

"YES!" Everyone yells in unison. I stare even more offended.

"I see hints of the old, bossy, butt-hurt Max coming back," Nudge speaks in my direction.

"She's right. Don't be controlling, Maximum." Fang coincides, and he said it with my full name to! That must be serious. Realizing my wrong, I correct myself and apologize.

"Alright, sorry guys I will be less bossy. I am being unreasonable."I pause.

"Then again you all are too." I look up, making eye contact with everyone gathered at the table. I hear "What?" and "How?"

"You're all rude." I taste a bite of Iggy's cheesy, fluffy eggs.

'We're just having fun with you." Fang grins again.

"I don't like this 'fun.' "

"Of course, because you've always been anti-fun." Nudge counteracts with attitude.

"Stop! I am tired of sitting here taking insults!" I shout.

"You're taking them as insults; we didn't mean them to be insults" Fang replies keeping his cool. I pause to let it penetrate and sink in.

"Talk about thin skinned," Iggy pushes me more. Having enough of him I walk over and thump him hard on his head and leave the room. I leave to my room, to be alone. I believe that some of my anger is still remaining from last night, and that is why I am so peeved. I hear a KNOCK KNOCK at my bedroom door. I know that it is Fang, he comes in without permission. All I do is stare at him, with a look that says, "Why?"

"Maximum, I am sorry." There came the cliché line, but by the tone of his apology there was actually some remorse.

"Why?" came the question, I made it come out as hard and as cold as I could.

"Stop, breath." He strokes my hair.

"Really, you're too offended over remarks that are meant to be good natured jokes." Fang sighs.

I sit silent; all I wanted right now from Fang was for him to do the talking.

"Let's make amends," he hugs me, I reject it.

"You know your condescending sarcasm never helps situations like this." I speak my mind.

"Well," Fang stops.

"Well work on it." I get up, run to the window and thrash it open to fly away.

"Max!" He calls after me, again all too predictable. I ignore him, and soar to the closest wood to sit in a tree to contemplate things. I pull out my i pod and text him via the texting app.

**xXMaxXx: Be back in a while, I am ok.**

**Fang 3: K, baby. Love you.**

**xXMaxXx: I know. *rolls eyes***

**Fang 3: Max, I really love you. We've been together since the start, let's not end this now.**

**xXMaxXx: Your forgetting the 'with minor exceptions' part.**

**Fang 3: Let's put that in the past where it belongs.**

**xXMaxXx: Fine. I am sorry, and I need you to tell me the same.**

**Fang 3: Babe, you know I am. Sorry, I won't be sarcastic when we have disagreements. :)**

**xXMaxXx: Sorry, and I won't be the way I was. You already know.**

**Fang 3: Heck yeah, I know. Now come on home so we can finish breakfast.**

With that I gladly got off my i pod and flew home, fast. Fang stood on the lawn waiting, he hugged me.

We all finished and cleaned up from breakfast with smiles instead of sorrows.

Before anyone could go on to do their thing though, I called for a flock meeting.

I took charge of the talking as usual and Fang sat by me.

"I needn't repeat what went down last night," I began.

"We all know Ari is back at us for the bajillionth time, and who know what it's about this time."

Everyone slumped, clearly not perking up on a topic like this.

"God, that fool never dies no matter how many times we try to kill him," Iggy shakes his head.

"How did he find us if you had the tracker inside your arm removed by Dr. Martinez, your Mom like two years ago?" Gazzy asked what everyone was thinking.

"I remember that," Fang laughed, "you were so loopy."

"Let's not discuss that." I give Fang a stern look.

"We are all wondering the same thing Gasman," I answer, puzzled as everyone else.

"The ring of discussion is open for speculation and theories." I announce.

"Possibly there is a tracker in one of us, besides you Max." Iggy posed.

"Hmm, yes, but I recall that I was the only one who had one implanted in me in the first place because they wanted me to save the world and all. I guess maybe in their eyes y'all weren't as important enough as me to have a trackers implanted or something." I said.

"I know that, but I don't think any of us were x-rayed for trackers." Iggy reminded me, looking to the others.

"Right, none of you were." I affirmed.

"Can we get x-rayed for it? It wouldn't hurt, beside we could all get ours removed and potentially terminate the risk of Ari hunting us down altogether." Fang suggested.

"Returning to Arizona to my Mom, and Ella would be unwise, and it could hurt them if Ari discovers we're all there." I defended my biological family.

"Max, you're forgetting our flock motto. Flock before family, remember?" Angel coined in.

"Is it them or us?" Gazzy gave me those cute, determined eight-year-old-eyes.

I sigh, "Ok, we're going to Arizona!" I declare.

"To the land of cacti!" Gazzy pipes up.  
>"When do we depart?" Fang asks.<p>

"Tonight, twelve midnight, I'll get in contact with my Mom discreetly and let her know of our arrival." I notify everyone.

"Why twelve AM?" Nudge asks with attitude.

"If we fly at night, it is less probable they'll be able to track us. Plus there is a strong breeze tonight that will carry us. I checked the weather report." I stated.

"Fine," Nudge crossed her arms and headed to her room, boy did I need to teach her not to sass me.

"Nudge, one more thing be polite please." I smile, knowing that was never gonna happen. We are a band of unruly, disobedient kids; we give allegiance to no one except ourselves.

"Ok, Max, thank you for letting us go to Arizona." Nudge bats her eyes, and smiles sarcastically.

"These kids," I mumble once Fang and I are alone in the room.

"Yeah, I know. They'll learn someday, maybe." Fang kisses me on the head.

"My head is on information overdrive so I am going to sleep. Wake me at 11:30 PM if I don't wake up before then." I request.

Fang gives me thumbs up as he gets out his i pod to listen to music. I marched myself off to bed. The remainder of twelve hours I slept to have maximum (ha, my name) energy to fly.


	4. Chapter 4: An Adventure to Arizona

Chapter 4: An Adventure to Arizona

I awaken to screams.

"Wake up Max!"

"Max! It's almost time to go!"

The children break into my room half an hour before my alarm. Arg.

"Thirty more minutes!" I groan and grumble.

"Max! Come on we have food for you from Macaroni Grill!" Gazzy bribed me.

My eyes were wide open now.

"Give me!" I shouted. I was out of bed in a bustle.

"It's warmed up on the table," Nudge says leading me to the dining room. I run to it and sit down in a flash. I start eating ravenously like a lion tearing ligaments of its prey. The flock picked me up some tortellini, (my favorite, Fang probably picked it out).

"Y'all went to Macaroni Grill without me?" I glance over at Fang my right wing man, with a questioning expression between bites.

"They were hungry! Really hungry!" He put up his hands in defense.

"We ate like everything on the menu!"Iggy commented.

"It was so goooood." Angel said with satisfaction rubbing her tummy.

"Just wake me if your gonna go there next time. I wanted to come! Their cheese cake is to die for." I let the fact that they went to my favorite restaurant ever without me slide.

"Everyone is fed, showered and backpacks are loaded. And everyone is wearing clean underwear.

"Ooh bonus!" I chuckle and continue wolfing down all my food.

"Hurry Max! I can't wait to get to Arizona!" Angel enters the room, probably just from the bathroom because she smelled of one of Nudge's perfumes.

"Are you wearing my Pink Friday perfume by Nicki Manaj?" Nudge glares at Angel, fists clenched and nostrils flared.

"It smells SOOOOOO good," Angel makes dreamy eyes.

"You're too young to wear that stuff," I wrinkle my nose (personally I hated half of Nudges strong, rather sensual scents).

"Why?" Angel looked at me innocently.

"It's for older girls, honey." I tell her.

"Even Nudge is almost too young to wear them." I look over at Nudge, her eyes narrowed and I could tell she was about to go off like an alarm.

"MAX_" Nudge's anger spilled over, but I stop her before the worse can happen.

"If you are gonna be a back-talking sass, go do it elsewhere." I point to her room. Storming off, she turns back to look at my face. I remain strictly stoic; she gives me a profane sign with her finger that is followed promptly by SLAM (her door).

"Nice, right in front of the kids." I sit down to finish my food. I look at Angel.

"Don't think you're going to get out with no consequences." I furrow my eyebrows (or at least try, I can't do it like Fang).

"We've been through not using others people's stuff without permission." I go on.

"Sit in the corner." I appoint her punishment. Angel slouches and sits on the stool in the kitchen corner with piece of paper taped over it with the words 'timeout corner of compunction' written on it.

"Gosh Deputy Max, you really know how to enforce the law in these parts." Iggy jokes.

"Gettin' better at it every day," I reply quietly.

"Fang, can you talk to Nudge after she's ready." I chill on the couch for a minute then get up to go prep my bag for the flight to Arizona for the next twenty minutes. I put one change of clothes (excluding jeans because those are space-suckers), toiletries, my i pod (loaded with hours of rock and trance music) and its charger, my laptop, and my open, unfinished bag of stale Cheetos and of course my walkie talkie.

"Time for departure!" I call all across the house, Fang locks the door behind all of us. The flock assembles and stands at my command.

"Nudge, Angel you've learned your lesson. I don't have time or the patience to think of further consequences for you two. Just be good."

"Let's Fly!" I run ahead of my flock and we ascend in formation from the nearby field next to our house. The first hour of flight is silent, ear buds in everyone's ear. As tension eased and friction reduced to nothing between us we started to joke and frolic around. By the time dawn was upon us, we could see the nonstop rolling hills and shrubbery of Midwest Texas. Sheesh Texas took a long time to cross. Two-hundred to two-hundred and seventy-five miles per hours (varying due to updrafts of wind to help us cruise along) just didn't seem fast enough.

"Guys, Texas is a huge state so it's gonna be awhile." Fang speaks up.

"I was just about to ask if we were there yet." Nudge glanced at her i pod clock.

"Glad you spoke up Fang, stop those whiners." I thank Fang.

Nudge squints, "Does that imply something?"

"Mmm. Not really, all I mean is that I am glad you guys aren't complaining."

"Yeah," Fang agrees.

"If you guys wanna get there faster, then speed up." Iggy tells them; flying along on my left he looks over at me. I smile.

"Let's!" I accelerate setting the speed to three-hundred and fifteen miles per hour.

_Max, don't over pace us,_ Angel intrudes into my head.

_Is this to fast?_ I ask.

_Yes, a little too fast, it's hard to keep up. _Angel voices her mind into mine.

"Gazzy, Angel get behind Fang." I order

"Why?" Gazzy asked.

"It's a technique used in road races, Fang will reduce wind resistance against you that way you exert yourself less and can keep up better." I explain.

"Now we'll fly a lot faster." I smile. The remaining hours flew by (so punny) with Fang, Iggy, and I all switching off occasionally. Within three or so granola bar breaks and one stop for a meal at a fast food joint we were there. We were all about ready to drop out of the sky when we reached our destination. In fact we almost did plummet to the ground, but our bird kid instincts made us catch ourselves before we smashed against the ground, dead.

I landed feet first, trembling. Gazzy, Angel, Iggy, and Nudge landed sort of sprawled out unable to move. Fang landed perfectly (as always) with minimal shaking.

"You have the soaring stamina of a cross country runner." I compliment Fang.

"Thanks." Fang grins, waiting for all of us to get balance.

"Do I have to carry you guys to the house?" Fang inquired.

"No, I'll get up myself," I said to seem independent (I am Maximum Ride; I don't take help from anyone).

"That'd look weird if you were to carry me in the house." Iggy laughed.

"UGH! NO!" I protested finally gaining strength to stand up.

"Max?!" I heard a happy voice.

"ELLA!" I ran into her hug then collapsed in the arms of my biological sister.

"Whoa? Are you alright?" She fussed over me.

"Pssh yeah. I am completely okay," I tried getting up but failed.

"She pushed us all too hard." Iggy finally stood up walking over slightly shaking.

"You guys flew all the way form East Texas?" Ella's voice sounded astonished.

"Yeah, it was no biggie." I smiled.

"Sure, it's no biggie if we flew so hard we don't even have enough strength to even get up." Nudge commented sarcastically. Gazzy and Angel giggled.

"What did I say about whining?" I replied. Fang rolled his eyes smiling.

"Let me get my Mom! We'll whip up some fajitas real quick for you guys. Y'all must be beyond starving." Ella scurried off to help her mom prepare food (I can't believe someone can enjoy cooking, maybe it just wasn't my thing).

"YEEEAH! Fajitas!" Gazzy cheered.

"OOH, with some refried beans on the !" Nudge exclaimed.

"And rice!" Angel added throwing up her hands as if she was victorious.

Fang put his arm around me, and the pair of us walked slowly inside together. The others eventually got up to join us inside the warm, personable atmosphere.

"I apologize I pushed y'all so hard today." I said to everyone.

"It's cool; we'll eventually work up to that stamina." Iggy nodded.

"Yes, please do," Fang chuckled, "you are all so slow."  
>"Time to eat!" Ella rang a metal triangle.<p>

"YAY!" Gazzy literally swooped to the table.

"No flying in the house!" My mom shouted her hands over her face as if afraid she would be hit.

"Sorry!" Gazzy shrank back in shame. Mrs. Martinez urged us to begin, but Iggy was already half way done as she finished her sentence.

"Why the sudden arrival?" Ella just seemed dying to ask.

"What? Didn't you know we were coming?" Angel asked.

"No." Mrs. Martinez took a bite of her rice.

"Oh. Sorry. I forgot to email you and say so." I slouched feeling guilty for just showing up with six starving mutant bird kids who will eat everything in your cabinet and still be hungry.

"Well mainly we're here to have any potential trackers inside any of us surgically removed by you, like I did two years ago." I clarified.

"Why?" My Mom looked over at me confused.

"Ugh, well, Ari kinda tracked us down at Six Flags Over Texas and attacked us." I respond trying to remain mellow, as if someone trying to kill us wasn't our norm. Mrs. Martinez dropped her fork.

"Max. Why would you go there?" She sighed.

"It's really fun!" Gazzy beamed, he was so cute but now wasn't the time. Ella chuckled.

"It was holiday in the park! We just couldn't turn it down." I made an excuse.

"Nice to know you're making smart decisions, Max." Mom shook her head in disapproval.

"Well we didn't know. Plus it's been a year since our last surprise attack from Ari, so we assumed it'd be safe. Somehow though he was able to find us, and our theory is one or more of us have trackers inside our bodies so he could see our every location."

"All of us crucially need to have ourselves x-rayed for micro chip trackers, except Max." Fang backed me.

"Fine, fair enough," Mrs. Martinez nodded.

"In trade I'll do the dishes," Iggy volunteered to lessen the friction (that's my Iggy).

"And I'll bake you cookies," Dr. Martinez smiled finishing her fajita and clearing her spot on the table.

"Now Iggy, I have been dying to know! How old are you?" Ella bit her lip.

"Twenty-two." He lied, he's actually only fifteen.

"Oh," she was let down, I could tell.

"Why do you wanna know?" I posed.

"Just trying to get to know everyone better." She blushed, she definitely liked Iggy.

"Go on, tell me about yourself Iggy and everyone likewise! But Iggy first." Ella requested.

"Well, I can make a mean chili soup," he paused, "and I am blind." Iggy's features saddened.

"How did that_" Ella stopped.

"Uh, I was messing with shake weights." Iggy lied grinning. He really lost them in an experimental surgery for super raptor vision at the school. But, we really don't discuss things like that, ever.

"Oh, ouch!" Ella had a concerned expression.

"Yup," Iggy glanced down.

"My turn!" Nudge stole the spotlight; it was probably good though Iggy tends to be timid with people he doesn't know well.

"Well, uh, you've met me, uh I mean us before. I can say it's been awhile. To re-introduce myself, I am Nudge. I am twelve, I love fashion, hot boys with big six packs and biceps, and I sing better than Adele!" Nudge smiled with all her pearly whites.

"Oooh! My turn!" Angel spoke up.

"I'm six years old and I love animals and coloring books!" Angel smiled contented.

"Gazzy, your go" I lead the conversation.

"Well, I am age seven and a half, and I am a bomb extraordinaire."

Fang cleared his throat, "Fang is my name. I love the color black, and I'm sixteen."

"Are you emo?" Ella asked.

He sighed, "No."

I giggled, he hated being called emo which he was constantly stereo-typed as.

"Nice to meet you all, I am Ella and I am thirteen."

"You already know me." I shrugged.

"Well yeah, sis." She smiled.

"Time to wash dishes," she scooted back and started to pick up plates.

"Iggy, you said you'd help me right?" She grinned. Iggy nodded, gulping trying to pretend that she wasn't acting awkward. But she was.

"Just go with it, you don't have to like her back." I whispered. He followed Ella sighing.

"Iggy thinks that this is going to be a long, awkward, and complicated visit." Angel said closing her eyes and pressing her temples.

"Tell him to man up," I say. Iggy honestly needed to learn how to deal with girls. Tontine was a perfect opportunity; I kicked back for the show.


	5. Chapter 5: A Pleasant Surprise

Chapter 5:

"Ah ha ha" booming laughter arose from the kitchen. Ella sure was enjoying Iggy's company, but more than that I smelled the aroma of baking cookies from the oven. Oh I could hardly contain my munchies!

"Max! The cookies are done!" Mrs. Martinez announced from the kitchen, I burst through the door before she finished her sentence. This batch was mine, all mine.

"Max! Save some for us!" I heard Nudge call as she got up to claim her cookies, but being the selfish person I am I licked all of them right in front of her eyes just to mark my territory. She'd never think of touching them now.

"That's not fair!" Nudge crossed her arms. It was too fair; my mom said she'd "make me cookies." Not "I'll make everyone cookies."

"Max." Dr. Martinez sighs.

"I'll make another three batches of chocolate chip cookies just for everyone else, but Max won't get any."

Nudge smirked her little sassy smirk. I could deal with getting one batch all to myself. I liked that.

Fang drifted over to my side, he chuckled and rolled his eyes, "so typical of you."

I stared into his eyes stuffing a cookie into my mouth.

"Gotta get those chocolate chip cookies!" I exclaimed. I look over to Iggy, he was standing next to Ella drying dishes with a kitchen towel. He grinned as Ella told him more about herself.

Those two probably like one another but just wouldn't say it. Overlooking everything, I saw all was well in the kitchen. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel assisted my mom in cookie-baking. Everyone was contented; nothing in this moment now, could awry. Only until we're pleasantly greeted with a BANG, BOOM, and CRASH of Erasers streaming in through all the windows and doors surrounding us. UGH! NOW?!

"HA HA! Gottcha now Max! There's no escape!" Ari swung in one a zip line like some cool spy you'd see in those action flicks.

"Nice dramatic entrance!" I clapped. Ari's face contorted into an angry look, he hated my sarcasm.

"Now what do you want this time?" I smiled to vex him. Before he could make any other move, Fang was already on it.

"Just die already!" Fang jumped on Ari with a knife he pulled from the knife block. Ari thrashed, but boy did Fang have a hold of him. He was quite the assassin. The others and I were already taking on all the other Erasers with not a single problem. I was just anticipating for Jeb to make his appearance as usual and go on about his bull crap that I was supposed to save the world. There he came, storming in with his flowing lab coat on to add a dramatic edge.

"Hi Jeb," I waved.

"You're usually not all that happy to see me." He crossed his arms.

"I am not at all. I hate you." I was blunt.

"What are you here for today?" I demanded.

"A chat over a cup of tea and crumpets?" I looked at him.

"Or too drag me and my flock back to the school to experiment on us and eventually dissect us all?" I grinned.

"Max," he shook his head, "you already know."

"Yea, I do. And as always, no." I said and turned clutching three cookies to gobble up.

"Look, all of your other replacements or clones you've made of me like Maya are all failures. So give up and go home. The simple message is that I hate you and never want to see or Ari AGAIN!" I snapped. Ari tapped out, Fang released his grip of death and got off him. Ari hobbled up.

"Max, are you saying I am a failure?" Ari asked.

"Yup," I nodded, "but it's not your fault the school turned you into a menacing monster." I glared at Jeb.

"Now, what I wanna know is how you found us at Six Flags, and now here." I commanded.

"One of you has another tracker," Ari confessed.

"Nice to know, thanks." I told Ari who got a look of "Why'd you say that, nincompoop?" from Jeb.

Ari's face contorted into rage, "I am done with your condescending looks." Ari's teeth were clenched.

"Ugh! Well you shouldn't have said anything you dingbat!"

"Now it's not important, and really all of it never was. It was only ever an endless chase to catch Max." Ari spat my name. Whose side was he on?

"Our hunt for Max could've all ended today if you'd have complied like you should have!" Jeb roared, his posture straightened to tower of Ari.

"Sorry I was never good enough. Jeb." Ari shook his head, "you can find a new son to experiment on and chase other mutants."

Jeb guffawed, "You can't renounce your biological relation with me."

"But he can ditch you." I spoke up, "just like I did to you." I spat the last words.

"Not anymore," Jeb snapped his fingers, flyboys flew in at his demand. Thirty-six of them to be exact; I counted.

"NO!" I hollered, we were as good as done. Several flyboys piled on Fang, my babies Angel and Gazzy were picked up like dogs and examined and stuffed inside kennels. The miseries and memories of my early childhood was resurrected. I was bound, defenseless, powerless, hopeless. Iggy was the only one who stood strong struggling against the flyboys (robotic Erasers complete with wings). But because of his blindness, he didn't notice the blow that ended his chances. The fly boy restraining Iggy kneed him at the base of his skull knocking him unconscious to the ground. A flyboy drug Iggy into a cage.

"Now try and leave us Max." Jeb's mouth was straight line, placid.

"WE WILL! EVERY LAST ONE OF US!" Tears came; they weren't tears of despair, but of rage. Jeb crouched down to my level and stared for a moment.

"KIDS DON'T BELONG IN CAGES!" I remembered what I told another mutant girl I met in New York City in an institute.

"Load them up and let's head out." Jeb directed standing up.

"Jeb, you can't just break in my house and_" Mrs. Martinez tried to protest.

"These experiments are property of the Ter Bocht and his associates."

"We are simply reclaiming what is ours." Jeb said smugly and stepped onto a chopper with flyboys behind him. We were in a separate chopper guarded by other Flyboys and Erasers. Ari commander of them all, stood with them. He stood silently, nothing needing to be said. We all knew where we were headed.


End file.
